March

Book Three

Welcome to the stunning conclusion of the 'March trilogy.' Congressman John Lewis, an American icon and one of the key figures of the civil rights movement, joins co-writer Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell to bring the lessons of history to vivid life for a new generation, urgently relevant for today's world

Comment

The 2016 National Book Award Winner for Children's Literature, and with good reason. This concludes the March series that chronicles Rep. John Lewis' involvement in the Civil Rights movement. Truly eye-opening

Throughout March, Lewis emphasizes action over legislation, highlight the fact that while laws are important, they mean nothing without practical enforcement or compliance. Even as it concludes at a triumphal moment, with the inauguration of the United States’ first black president, there is a note of sadness and caution. One of the last scenes depicts Lewis listening to his voicemail. “I was thinking about the years of work, the bloodshed…the people who didn’t live to see this day,” Ted Kennedy says as Lewis listens in the dark, head in his hands. March is dedicated to “the past and future children of the movement.” And the next day, Congressman Lewis is back at his office, planning to educate those future children about what was lost, what was gained, and the work yet to be done.

A staggering good conclusion to the March series. This volume is maybe a little more violent than the previous two, which lends a slightly bleak, dark aspect to the story. But it's still told with such genuine passion and forthrightness that it is still a stand-out series on the Civil Rights issues of the 60's. And not enough can be said about the art in each volume. Truly a stunning and inspiring set of books that I can see becoming standard reading for students in Middle and High Schools everywhere.

These 3 books on the civil rights movement are excellent. I lived through those times and reading about them was very interesting. John Lewis does an excellent job of telling the story of the movement. The illustrations are wonderful. Every youth should read these books and understand some of our history.

"March" Book 3, surely gives us an excellent firsthand inside account of the struggles of the civil rights movement, particularly with the roles of SNCC and John Lewis and many others. The right to vote and to be treated as human beings were fought for with great courage and the price was heavy. It is hard to believe that this happened just a while ago (1960s).
As Lewis pointed in this work (in the words of Malcolm X) it is a struggle not only of race but of class. This open a new dimension in the thinking of how people are treated with regards to being viewed as a despised race or class ( See "White Trash...." by Nancy Isenberg, 2016).
Baseball contributed to breaking down the color barriers ( Jackie Robinson and others).

This book is a must read, particularly for young people, so that they do nor take things (for example, right to assembly, right to vote, respect for others etc.) for granted.

The best in the series! This is such an important series, not only for young people. It was packed with details and grassroots organizing I didn't know about, as an adult. John Lewis is amazing and I am glad he is getting recognition for some of the amazing work he has done throughout his lifetime.

This is the last book of a really, really good trilogy! Kudos to John Lewis for sharing his story about the Blacks struggle for their civil rights in America and Nate Powell for bringing Mr. Lewis' story to life through his beautiful artwork. In my opinion, the March books should be required reading in American History classes for high school students. I'm pretty sure that I would've appreciated reading a graphic novel of this nature during my adolescent years.

Summary

March: Book Three opens where March: Book Two left off, with the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963. The third volume is by far the longest in the trilogy, and has the most ground to cover, not necessarily in terms of time, but in terms of significant events in the civil rights movement, when participation and media attention gained critical mass. This installment includes the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Malcom X, the Freedom Summer voter registration project, the Selma march, and the passage of the Civil Rights Bill and the Voting Rights Act. The frame narrative that anchored the first volume has mostly slipped away, with only occasional references back to the inauguration of Barack Obama. It concludes on a meta note, with Lewis and Aydin discussing the idea of turning Lewis’ memoirs into a comic book.